Pancakes
by Thegoldenlock
Summary: AkihikoXMinako. Akihiko dislikes sugary stuff but tells Minako what he likes the most. She decides to prepare a special gift for him but everything turns up-side-down.Who would have thought that pancakes could change their relationship?
1. Valentine

**AN: Due to recently playing the new Persona 3 portable I wanted to write a three chapter story about one of the possible pairings. This is an Akihiko X Minako/female MC oneshot that I came up with while doing his !**

**Warning: Might be minor spoilers for those who haven't played persona 3 portable as a girl nor getting Akihikio´s . No major spoilers but… read at your own risk! This story might be seen as AU because in the game they face Nyx before February. (thanks readers!) So it´s a story where they face Nyx later. **

**Note: Changed it from oneshot to a three chapter story. **

**Enjoy!  
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**It´s** February the 13th and just as Fuuka requested, all the girls staying at the dorm has gathered to make chocolate for valentine's day. Fuuka, who´s terrible at cooking, wanted to make candy for the residents at the dorm but especially for her friend Natsuki so we all agreed to help out. All the girls at school have been talking about it for ages and everyone knows that home-made chocolate is the best when you want your crush´s attention.

Fuuka is standing in the kitchen with an apron around her waist, she looks very serious. The green haired girl has been taking cooking lessons with Shinjiro and wants to prove her skills. I can´t help but smile at her from my seat at the table. Yukari helps Fuuka with the ingredients since she´s still doubting the other girl´s abilities in the kitchen. Mitsuru laughs as she joins me by the table, crossing one leg over the other.

"Why is it important to give away chocolate?" Aigis wonders in her monotone voice.

The human-looking robot is standing against the wall near the table. Her blue emotionless eyes stare at the ingredients Yukari is holding while you almost can hear how her man-made brain is working to figure things out. Fuuka turns to Aigis to explain.

"It´s tradition to give the one you like chocolate on valentine's day." Fuuka answers. "It´s like a confession, but I think giving it to close friends is ok too. It´s a way to show them how much they mean to you."

"I don´t understand." Aigis continues.

Yukari sweatdrops anime-style as the robot keeps on staring at the ingredients in an eerie way.

"Just watch us and you might get it, okay, Aigis?"

"Understood." The robot answers.

Yukari starts to read how to make the chocolate while Fuuka tries to follow the instructions as good as she can. Yukari has to keep an eye on her so she won´t make major mistakes like using too much heat so the chocolate will melt faster. No one wants to smell burnt chocolate and that will also ruin the surprise for the guys. Shinjiro will probably guess what happened and we´ll all be dammed. I chuckle to myself and that makes Mitsuru glance at me from her seat next to mine. I tend to laugh to myself from times to times and that might seem strange to others but my red haired senpai only smiles. I don´t know her that well yet because sometimes it seems like she´s speaking another tongue that I am. She´s so intelligent and mature so I can´t help but feel slightly uncomfortable around her. My grades aren´t the best and since it seems that all she does on her free time is to study I feel a little out of place. But I need to get along with all the persona users since Mitsuru and Akihiko appointed me as the new leader.

With that heavy responsibility on my shoulders I was kind of forced to get along with all the people living in the dorm. I´ve gained a lot of nice friends during my stay here and I can't say I regret moving in even though it was me transferring that awakened my power. My crimson eyes regard the chocolate as I´m thinking to myself. I´ve never felt needed like I´m doing now so I´m staying and can say that I enjoy being a member of SEES.

"Mitsuru-senpai, Minako-chan, you´re not going to make chocolate?" Fuuka asks Mitsuru and me.

Fuuka and Yukari looks at us with interest in their faces. Valentine is all about love, and that means girls talking about crushes and guys. I shrug as I shiver runs down my spine. Valentine isn´t really my thing. My parents never celebrated nor talked about it when they were still alive so I´ve grown up without celebrating the day completely. My mother didn´t teach me how to make chocolate like ordinary mothers do and since I never learned I felt that I shouldn´t learn at all. But I still think it´s cute how girls try to give the one they care for chocolate. It´s just not natural for me to do it.

"No." Mitsuru answers in a stern way. Her voice makes Yukari and Fuuka aware of that they won´t get any more info even if they would ask her about it.

I glance Mitsuru´s way and realize that I have no clue if the student council president likes someone or not. When I first arrived here I thought she and Akihiko was a couple- I swallow hard- but after some months I understood that they´re just close friends. Mitsuru, Akihiko and Shinjiro were the first persona users to join SEES and the three of them have a special bond that I can´t really understand even though I hang out with Akihiko from time to time. He doesn´t like to talk about the past and I´ve no right to force him to. My thoughts lingers at the older man who put his trust in me a lot lately.

"Ehm, okay..." Yukari shrugs. "And you Minako?"

Since I once again was lost in thought I answer with what comes to mind in that moment.

"No, I´m thinking of giving him something else. So I would like to borrow the kitchen after you´re done." I say without thinking it through first.

Yukari and Fuuka looks at each other while a small smile appears on Mitsuru´s lips. Aigis looks as lost as ever as she leans against the wall.

"_Him_ you say...who?" Yukari urges me to say more.

I flinch violently as the realization hits me in the face and a faint blush appears as I try to calm down. I was thinking about him the moment I answered so it came out naturally, but I didn´t really want them to know about it. Yukari´s eyes widen at my reaction and I can see how she wants to ask me more about it. I curse myself. Valentine will be different for me this year because there is a guy that I think I like more than just a friend. I´ll not make chocolate to him, so it won´t really be a confession, but the idea itself scares me now when I know I´ve to give my planned gift to him tomorrow. I look down at the floor as I avoid Yukari´s eyes. Just as I open my mouth to say some sort of excuse Mitsuru interrupts me.

"It´s Akihiko, right?" Mitsuru asks me with a small smile.

The blush on my face grows even bigger as the older teen guesses right. Yukari looks at me with wide eyes due to surprise, it seems that she hadn´t noticed how my feelings for Akihiko grew even though she and I hangs out pretty often. Fuuka stays silent just as Aigis but she looks less confused than the robot girl.

Mitsuru is right; I´m interested in Akihiko. I don´t know when it started but it all happened naturally as we slowly got to know each other. I find him very attractive- well duh- he is handsome and all the girls at school know that!- but I´ve been feeling something different than attraction to him lately and the emotion confused me for some time. I like how he is so passionate about his training, how he´s completely unaware of that all the girls hanging around him wants to date him, and the way he blushes when I somehow manage to get under his skin. He´s dense but smart at the same time just as he is very popular with the girls but still so innocent when love is concerned.

I look at Mitsuru while being slightly afraid of her being against my feelings for him but she doesn't look discontented or angry with me, she looks slightly happy. The older girl acts like she won on the lottery when she, and the three other girls there, understands that she was right. Yukari shakes her head as if she can´t believe that I´m liking someone like Akihiko.

"H-how?" I stutter while looking at Mitsuru, I´ve understood that I can´t hide my feelings any longer. "How did you find out?"

"You´ve been spending more time with him lately and I know Akihiko is picky with who he hangs with, so I guess that you have to get along quite well." My senpai tells me with a gentle smile."And you get a certain expression around him, when you talk about him or when he is mentioned."

"I do? Well—" The blush fades as I try to come up with some sort of excuse. "—I just want to show him my appreciation but It´ll be a challenge... I mean, his fans will surely swarm around him with their fancy gifts."

"Do I hear some jealousy?" Yukari giggles."Yeah senpai sure is famous with the girls but he doesn´t seem to understand the motives beneath their approaches..."

I flinch and look down in shame. It´s true, I´m mad at the girls because they can show their feelings that openly. I´m not like that. Saying stuff like "I think you´re great!" would only label me as one of his many fan girls and that´s not what I want. I´ve had the opportunity to get to know a different side of him since I joined SEES and I know a lot of them think that´s unfair. Okay, I´m scared of being rejected. I´m interested in a very popular guy who happens to not be interested in anything other than working out and gain power. I bet he would think that a girlfriend would only be in his way, and that it wouldn´t be worth spending time with her since he could use that time to train. Still, Akihiko would never hurt someone´s feelings like that. A sigh leaves my lips. No, I decided to do this so there´s no backing out now!

"I´ve understood that Akihiko-senpai dislikes sweets so I thought that I should make him something special, you know so he´ll be happy." I take a deep breath with a smile growing on my lips. "When we were at a café some days ago he told me he likes pancakes..."

Mitsuru´s eyes widen a fraction and it makes Fuuka look at her. I also wonder what´s wrong so I stop talking.

"Senpai?" Fuuka questions her.

"He took you to a café?" Mitsuru asks me in a surprised voice.

I nod while wondering why that is such a strange thing to do.

"That´s something new. Akihiko rarely visit those kinds of places." Mitsuru loses herself in her thoughts for a moment before she continues to explain. "Cafés are always crowded with girls so he tries to avoid it as much as possible."

"Oh, yeah." I nod as I recall how some girls approached us when we ate cake.

They weren´t happy about that I was with Akihiko all by myself and they even accused me of stealing him after saying that I was Junpei´s girlfriend. My stomach turns ice-cold at the memory and it makes me regret my decision once again. That probably made me look really bad in his Akihiko´s eyes since he asked me about my relationship with Junpei earlier. I have enough confidence to stand up to those girls but they sure know how to make you feel bad. I can still remember the glares they gave me the first time Akihiko asked me to go out and eat with him. I almost declined because I was so frightened of them. The thing that makes me smile at the memory is the way he took my hand and pulled me away from them. His hand felt so big and warm and I almost wanted to hold on to it longer when he apologized, asking if he had crushed my hand, when we reached the dorm.

"Isn´t that a little risky? Making pancakes for him…" Yukari asks. "You´re supposed to give chocolate at valentine's day so you might not get the message through to him."

"I know but… I´m not sure if I should… ehm, confess or just say that it´s a present."

"Giving it to him tomorrow will mean you like him. It´s valentine´s for God´s sake!" Yukari exclaims loudly.

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Mitsuru tells me with a grin. "After what I´ve heard tonight it seems that you two are closer than I thought."

I look at her with confusion because I have no idea why she is grinning, it´s like she´s picturing the outcome of me giving Akihiko pancakes in her head. It´s scary but I truly appreciates what she said.

"You think so? I want to give him something that´ll show him my feelings and I know they won´t reach him if I give him something he dislikes... so I think it´s worth the risk. I´ll break the tradition and give him pancakes tomorrow!"

"I still think it´s risky but if you give it your all, it might work." Yukari smiles. "Fuuka, what do you think?"

"I think he would be happy to get a present from you." She smiles at me.

I smile at the girls and nods. At first I thought Akihiko was a guy who thought too much about power and gaining strength but as we spent more time together I learned that he has a reason to be like that. He lost someone precious to him due to the lack of strength and it´s bugging him greatly since then. But he´s as lost as us too, not knowing why he´s fighting and if it´s worth it. I was so happy when he told me about Miki, not because of what happened, but that he started to open up to me. Gaining his friendship and trust was hard and I still wonder if we are as close as I think we are. He is precious to me in a way no one except my parents have been and I don´t want to lose him.

"Don´t worry, Akihiko wouldn´t turn his back on you." Mitsuru tells me but I wonder if she´s correct.

I smile and nod even though I´m not certain. I´m always confident when fighting shadows but I can´t say I´m that positive when love is concerned. I know that Akihiko can fight them off easily but I´m not sure he can love me or if he would want to. Yukari and Fuuka bake some wonderful looking chocolates and I can´t help but want to taste them. Yukari is strict though and tells me it´s for the guys and not for me. I laugh. The two of them are planning to give everyone a piece of chocolate in the morning before school since it´ll probably be hard to give them their gift at school or after. We´re still going to Tartarus after all; my orders. We still need to clear some more floors before we can relax for some days.

"Don´t stay up too late." Mitsuru tells me as it´s my turn to use the kitchen.

"Good night, you guys!" I tell them as Yukari, Mitsuru and Fuuka goes to bed.

"You´re staying Aigis?"

"Yes, my mission is to protect you." She answers.

"O-okaaaay."

Aigis watches over me in silence as I start to prepare the pancakes. I make sure to not use as much sugar as I normally would because I know he wouldn´t like that. I smile to myself as I crack the eggs open and let the interior fall into the bowl. I´m not a great cook but I do know how to make pancakes. I´ve been living on my own since my parents died so I had to learn how to prepare food to myself because cup-ramen isn´t the beat meal out there. I let it fall down into the frying pan and I enjoy the scent of it. When they´re all done I put some cream and jam between and cut it to the proper size. I put the cake in a small red box and tie a white ribbon around it.

"It´s done!" I´m content.

"We´re back!" Junpei shouts from the entrance.

My body trembles at the sudden sound and I almost drop the box. I´m able to hide my gift before they appear in the room and I sigh with relief. That was a close call!

"Welcome back." Aigis tells them in her indifferent voice.

"You have been making something?" Shinjiro asks me with a frown. The kitchen is his territory, not mine.

"Yeah, I got hungry." I chuckle.

"You know it´s not good for girls to eat this late." Junpei smirks at me. "You´re not afraid of becoming fat?"

"Hey!" I shout at him. "You jerk. I´m not, because I´m exercising unlike you!"

"Ouch! Minako-chan, you sure know how to hurt my feelings." Junpei laughs. "Well I´m off to bed.´Night."

"Oya sumi." I mutter. "Eh, why go to bed this early?" I add.

Junpei is the kind of person who stays up all night to play video games so it´s unusual for him to go to bed this early.

"It´s valentine´s day tomorrow!" He smiles broadly. "It´ll go faster if I go to bed earlier."

"Hn." Shinjiro snorts before he turns to me. "Make sure to clean up."

"Yes sir!"

"I´m expecting some chocolate from you tomorrow Minako-chan." Junpei shouts from the stairs before he disappears.

I´m busy glaring at Junpei so I don´t notice how Ken and Akihiko approaches me. Ken seems to be curious about what I ate while I can´t read the older guy´s expression at all. My cheeks turn a little red as the silver haired young man looks at me and I try to act as normal as possible.

"Did you have a nice time?" I ask him.

"Yeah." Akihiko smirks. "It was a good movie."

"I agree." Ken nods as he takes a glass of water. "The heroine was really cool when she took that, did that and—" He explains.

"Ooh sounds sweet, maybe I should check it out? Hey Ken, it´s time for you to go to bed." I smile at him gently.

"Aww man." Ken complains loudly.

Akihiko and I smile as Ken glares at us before he also goes to bed after taking another glass of water. It´s nice to have someone like Ken around, someone young who hasn't lost that imagination… But being a child doesn´t change that he also has a dark past. My smile fades a bit.

"You should go to bed too, you look tired." Akihiko tells me. "We have school tomorrow…and Tartarus if I am right?"

"Correct, we need to go deeper into the tower before I can allow you guys to rest."

"Count me in." He smirks with excitement and I can´t help but giggle. "Now, sleep tight."

"You too."

A deep breath leaves my lips as I´m finally alone in the lounge at last. Or not alone because Koro-chan is watching me carefully; he knows something is up. I kneel down to pat him gently. Dogs understand human emotions better than we do, I presume, as I let him lick the jam off my fingers.

* * *

**Everyone **gathers around the table in the longue the next morning and a certain Junpei is thrilled about the surprise Yukari mentioned earlier. He smirks broadly as he watches how Fuuka arrives with a large box in her hands, she looks slightly nervous.

"Ehm, we girls made these for you yester day." She tells them quietly. "For all of you."

Junpei looks disappointed, it seems he thought it was for him only. But he´s quick to return to his cheerful self.

"Sweeet~!" Junpei shouts as he sees the chocolate. " A valentine´s gift this early in the morning? I must be a lucky man."

"Stupei, it´s for everyone, not just you." Yukari corrects him once more as she takes the box from his hands and gives it to Ken.

"Uhm, thanks!" The youngest in SEES nods with a smile.

"So this is why it smelled so funny when we got home." Shinjiro mutters. He accepts the chocolate but he doesn´t seem to be all that happy about receiving it.

"Oh, it did?" Yukari glances my way. "Don´t you want one, Shinjiro-senpai?"

"I´ll eat it later."

I notice that Akihiko is nowhere to be found.

"Ehm where is Akihiko-senpai?" I ask Shinjiro.

"He went out for a run." Shinjiro answers. "His first lesson is PE so he wanted to warm up before entering the boxing ring, that idiot."

"That sounds just like him." I chuckle but I´m silently disappointed.

When am I supposed to give him my gift? I look on the floor while biting my lip before I walk into the kitchen. The sound of Junpei and Yukari´s arguing fades as I shut the door behind me. Why did he have to take an early run today? I look at the red box I was supposed to give him. The color fades from my face and I get even paler as I head to school.

* * *

**Walking **to school has never been this hard before and all the fact that all the girls talks about their crushes and chocolate doesn´t make it any easier. I want to turn around and run back to the station, enter the dorm and hide in my room for the rest of the day. The box in my bag feels like a big stone that gets heavier for each step I´m taking.

"You look pale, are you alright?" Junpei asks me.

It seems that he has been talking to me for a while without me noticing it.

"Huh?" I wasn´t listening. "Yeah, just tired."

"You sure? " He seems concerned. "Maybe you should rest and re-think about going to Tartarus tonight. I mean, we don´t want ya fainting on us."

"I´m fine." I smile at him.

"Hmm? Okay, I trust ya. " He smirks. "By the way, do you know who Yukari made chocolate to?"

"Didn´t she share it with you?"

"Not really, she gave a piece to all the guys at the dorm… " He complains.

Something changes in his expression as he notices some girls walking our way and he is quick to shove me away from him.

"Don´t take this personal but you´re ruining my chance at getting chocolate."

"Oh, so I´m a bother now. Well see you in class." I snort at him playfully.

Junpei is a nice guy even though he is a pervert. I like him and treasure his friendship a lot so I know he doesn´t mean anything with what he said earlier. But it would have been good to talk to him so I don´t have to think about the red box weighting me down. I sigh deeply as I enter the school by myself. Akihiko tends to hang out on the rooftop after boxing practice so I should go there after the first period. My stomach turns as I take my seat close to the window. I feel sick but I know it´s only due to my own nervousness.

Pull yourself together, Minako! I tell myself as the lesson starts.

The lesson ended as quickly as it started and I find myself walking through the corridor towards the stairs to the roof with a blood red box in my hands. My heart is beating quickly in my chest as I notice how several other girls do the same. I´m not the only one who thought of giving my gift at this time and it makes me freak out somewhat. And someone calls out to me just as I feared; it´s one of those girls who I met on the café the other day. The one that accused me of wanting two boyfriends.

"Minako-san." The voice is ice-cold.

"Oh, hello." I answer in a pretend indifferent tone.

"What are you doing?" The girl looks at the box. "You thinking of giving that to Akihiko-senpai, aren´t you?"

My body freeze and my heart stops beating for a moment. She already knows of my plan and the way she looks at me tells me she doesn´t like it one bit. I would have been able to keep my cool if I weren´t already nervous about my gift so I can´t help but tremble under her ominous gaze. The girl brought two of her friends, or supporters, and the two of them looks at me strangely.

"You´re stealing him from us!" One of them complains. "You already have Junpei, right? And that scary looking guy who always skip class!"

My red eyes widen at this because I´m thinking that their taking the joke too far. Now they´re even involving Shinjiro. I´ve never understood why fan girls are this mean. Aren´t they supposed to treasure the one they like? Not acting like he´s some possession no one else can be around. My surprise fades as I start to glare back at the girls.

"I´m not stealing anyone, he´s not a thing someone can posses!" I tell them loudly.

I decide to ignore them as I pass them by in the corridor but a strong hand grabs my wrist and keeps me from going to the roof. Red eyes glare at the girl holding me but I get no chance to react when one of the two other girls takes the box from my hand. A quiet gasp leaves my slightly opened lips as I watch how she looks at it with disgust show on her face. This is getting way out of hand!

"You know what we mean." The girl glares at me and shrugs her shoulder. "And now you´re thinking of giving senpai chocolate?"

The girl unties the ribbon and opens the box, probably while coming up with an insult, but her eyes widen as she sees that I´ve not made chocolate but pancakes instead.

"What-, it´s pancakes?" One girl utters in disbelief.

"Were you thinking of giving Akihiko-senpai pancakes instead of chocolate? How stupid is that!"

My red eyes widen as the girl throws the box at the floor. The box flies open and the interior falls out to cover the corridor. The pancakes are all ruined and dirty but the girl doesn´t seem to think that is enough because she steps on them too. I can´t do anything but stare as they assault my gift as the sadness and anger build up inside of me.

"Why did you do that?" I murmur as the girl stops.

"To show you your place!" She yells at me loudly.

"You have no right to do that!" I yell back at her.

I push the girl who has my wrist in an iron grip as I try to get away from her. I need to get my gift back even though it´s completely ruined buy now. I can´t let them have it, I can´t let Akihiko see it in this state. What would he think of me if he saw the gift and me being all violent? He would think I´m like them; a girl who is all obsessed with him. I don´t want that! The girl glares at me and I thought she would hit me for a moment but the person we are fighting over arrives. I want to faint, I want to vanish from the surface of earth.

"Oh there he is!"

"Akihiko-senpai!" The girls squeal loudly.

"Akihiko…" I murmur quietly to myself as I look away.

It doesn´t take long until the boxing loving teen is surrounded by fans who wants to give him their small colorful package with chocolate. He looks bothered by the commotion, the eyebrow covered with a plastic moves as he frowns as a girl literally shoves her gift into his hands. I can feel how his eyes look my way but all I can think of is my own embarrassment. Why did I try so hard when I knew that it was impossible from the start? Why did I fall in love with a guy that already is loved by so many? I shouldn´t have bothered because…I´ve no time for romance, not now when the dark hour is still present… Tears well up but I fight them as I turn my back to Akihiko and I run away. No, m fleeing. Akihiko notices me as I run by and he turns as he tries to face me.

"Minak-" Akihiko looks at my back as I run down the corridor. He looks surprised.

"Akihiko-senpai! Please accept our chocolate!"

"Er—" Akihiko looks bothered as he´s forced to focus on his fangirls.

So he decides to ignore their _kya kya kya _screams. His bothered expression vanishes as he notices the mess on the floor. A deep frown covers his pale face as he makes his way through the crowd of girls until he stands in front of the destroyed gift.

"What happened here?" Akihiko asks them in a cautious voice as he kneels down to touch the box, red jam sticks to his fingers. He put the fingers under his nose. Eyes widen.

"That klutz dropped her valentine´s gift!" One of the girls chuckles, she is clearly lying.

Akihiko looks at the girl who talked with slightly wide eyes. It takes some time before he realizes who she refers to. The frown on his face deepens as he focuses on the gift. It´s several pancakes, carefully cut into a nice shape with cream and some jam added as decorations. It´s all ruined but he can clearly see how much time it took to prepare it. He doesn´t know why but his heart aches at the sight of it. A memory appears inside of his head.

"_I dislike sweets, it felt like I was eating sugar cubes…but, I like pancakes."He told her, why he didn´t know._

"_Pancakes?" Minako repeated while she looked at him with a gentle smile._

_"You think that is strange?" He asked her in a slightly embarrassed manner. The answer was important to him._

_Minato giggled. "No, pancakes are delicious… let´s eat that next time. But honestly, why did you take me to a café if you dislike sweets?"_

"_Ehm…" Akihiko hesitate, not daring to look her in the eye. "I heard that girls really like that place…"_

The memory of his last date with Minako makes Akihiko realize what just happened. Minako was about to give him this box with pancakes. A small but noticeable blush appears on his cheeks for a moment before it fades when he also understands that these girls did this to her. His body turns tense and rigid as he gets to his feet again. The scent of her pancakes is overwhelming, it makes his mouth water.

"I´m sorry but I can´t accept your gifts." He tells them in a cold voice. "I dislike sweets, It´ll ruin my training."

"Oh..! Sorry we didn´t know—"

"It seems that you know nothing about me, huh?" He snorts as he turns to leave.

"Akihiko-senpai? Why can´t he be more friendly…"

* * *

**The **TV is the only source of light in my room but I still can´t focus on the news. It´s the same thing as always; new victims of the apathy syndrome are appearing out of nowhere. My eyes darken as I lean against the wall behind me. It´s soon time to go to Tartarus but I´m not looking forward to it at all. When I go I have to fight side by side with Akihiko and I can already feel the tension growing between us.

But what if I´m just exaggerating things? He might not even understand that it was my gift and what I meant with it, I mean he´s really dense when love is concerned after all. I sigh once again as I force myself out of my bed to turn off the TV and head down to the others. They´re probably already waiting for me.

"Minako-chan, there she is!" Fuuka smiles at me as I enter the lounge. "Did you take a nap?"

"Yeah, it was a long day."

"Are you sure we should go to Tartarus?" Mitsuru asks me, probably wondering if I´m too tired to fight.

"Don´t worry, I drank some coffee too." I force myself to smile."I´m soon in hyper-mode!"

Ken laughs at me since he has seen me in that mode before. It was when I tried to make him drink coffee with me but ended up being all hyped up due to it. Koromaru barks happily at me and Ken and I lean down to touch his white fur. I´m doing everything in my might to act normal but I unconsciously tries to avoid Akihiko at the same time. Fuuka talks as we all prepare to head to the school to fight the shadows and she informs us of the changes in the tower.

"I need to talk with you." Akihiko tells me suddenly.

I glance his way before I keep on walking.

"We´ll talk later. The dark hour begins any second now." I answer in a way that makes him unable to complain.

Akihiko´s eyes widen as he watches me walk a head of him and he stays back without realizing it. Mitsuru, who watched him, approaches the said teen with concern.

"Akihiko." Mitsuru utter his name.

Akihiko looks at Mitsuru and she understands that something indeed has happened. The silver haired male shrugs his shoulders as he exhales loudly.

"It´s time to crush some shadows!" He exclaims, returning to his usual self.

* * *

**It´s Sunday** and I´m extremely restless. I had plans with Rio but she called yesterday to say that something came up and that she couldn´t meet me today. It´s probably something about that Kenji again. Why is love so difficult? I pout as I roll over to my back. A sudden noise breaks the silence. I grab my phone and answers with a hopeful voice, maybe Rio changed her mind?

"Moshi moshi, is it you Rio?"

_"Hey… eh, it´s Akihiko though."_

"Oh."

" _Are you free today? Or were you expecting a call from someone else?"_

"Eh… Yeah." I answer hesitantly. "I was supposed to hang out with Rio but she canceled, so I´m free, I guess."

"_Get ready and meet me in the lounge in ten, I want to take you somewhere."_

"Sure"

And Akihiko hangs up. Crimson eyes stares at my phone for a while before I put it down. I guess it´s time to get over what happened on valentine´s day. I don´t understand how I could act that immature… I frown.

I smile at him as we meet downstairs and he murmurs a quiet "Hey.." and smiles back. I don´t feel uncomfortable as we head out. He starts talking about his boxing practice in a very passionate manner and it makes me relax. It seems that he doesn´t want to ask me about my strange behavior nor mention the gift. I´m able to smile sincerely at him again and I laugh as he tells me about how he punched another senpai who tried to act though. No one beats Akihiko in the ring and no shadow has come close to do that either.

He takes me to the café we visited together some weeks ago and I can´t help but look at my surrounds since I feel that the girls from school can show up any time now. I´m able to calm down after some time though and I order a cup of coffee and a slice of a strawberry cake. The coffee makes me feel a lot better. I´m sitting with the warm cup in my hands as I regard how Akihiko eats in silence. Something about the slow way he tastes what he ordered makes me realize that he´s really enjoying it. His eyes sparkle and a smile is there on his quite thick and soft-looking lips. I find myself staring at his mouth and is quick to avert my gaze.

"Delicious." He murmurs.

"Does it taste that good?" I ask him.

"Yeah but I´m sure that your pancakes would have been even tastier." He tells me bluntly.

I flinch and look at the plate in front of Akihiko. He has indeed ordered pancakes but it´s not his plate that surprises me, it´s the fact that he mentions my gift. Or I think he does. I look at him while I feel how my heart beat quickens.

"W-what did you say?" I stutter.

"Y-you prepared some for me the other day… right?" He smiles gently.

I can´t find my words as Akihiko looks down in embarrassment. He glances my way but doesn´t seem to be able to look me in the eyes. It makes my heart skip a beat before it starts beating at the speed of a train again. I can feel how blood rushes to my head but the warmth fades just as quickly when the memory of my destroyed valentine´s gift appears in my head.

"So you saw." I scratch my head in embarrassment. "They got ruined sadly."

"Mm…" He nods slowly before a small blush suddenly appears on his cheeks. "S-so I was wondering if you…would like to make pancakes for me some other day? Like this Tuesday."

My eyes widen even more as I understand his request and I can´t help myself; I stare at him for a long time. He meets my eyes for a second before he averts his gaze and that´s when it hits me. If I managed to give him my gift he would have been happy, that´s why he wants to give me a second chance to give it to him.

"You want me to cook for you?" I ask him with a smile growing on my lips.

"Y-yeah…" He returns the smile with one of his own.

My face turns completely red. "Ehm…Etto…Ano…" I murmur without finding any words to use. "I think…I could do that."

* * *

**AN; Was it ok? It´s actually hard to write in Minako´s POV since she don´t have a personality, or... that the player makes her the way they want. Anyway, please review!**


	2. Confusion

**AN; Thank you guys for the reviews on this story. Actually I never thought I would get any because I wrote this without planning nor expecting anyone to comment on it. **

**A reviewer made me realize that the logic in this story fails a little. I didn´t check the dates when I started to write! If I would follow the dates in the game correctly maybe they wouldn´t live at that time? What about Nyx? Ryoji? Etc. When I sat down to write this all I could think about is fluff so I didn´t think of it at all. You might want to see this story as a slightly AU one because of that. This is a story where the fall happens after v-day, hahaha!**

**I appreciate criticism and anything that could improve my English or my writing! So feel to comment on what you dislike or thing I suck at while also adding what you liked about the story. **

**At first I thought this would be a long oneshot but some of you wanted more so I thought about how I could continue. This will be a threeshot with a lot of drama and romance. As I said before, it doesn´t follow the storyline of Persona 3 portable but Akihiko´s instead. **

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

"**Do** you like them?"

I regard Akihiko with a pair of warm crimson eyes. My senpai is currently eating the pancakes I made for him a moment ago. He looks up at me, still chewing, before he swallows with a deep sigh. I tilt my head to the side as I stand leaning against the desk in the front of the home economics room. We decided to meet here after school rather than at the dorm since it would be less crowded at this hour. I asked Fuuka if it was okay since she´s the president of the cookingclub using the classroom and she allowed us to use it. The happiness I´m feeling makes it impossible for me to stop smiling but I try to stop when I realize my cheeks will hurt later if I don't.

"It´s sweet." He answers me truthfully.

"Oh…" My smile fades even though I thought it was impossible a moment ago.

"Eh..!" His eyes widen at my reaction and he´s quick to explain himself. "Sweet in a good way! I like them, really." A small blush cover his pale cheeks.

"Oh, I see…" The smile returns to my lips. "I was really worried since I know that you dislike too sweet things."

I turn around to put away and wash all the dirty dishes. The smile doesn´t leave my lips. Who would have thought that I would make pancakes for Akihiko some months ago? Not me. Some girls would kill to be in my shoes, and some have tried, so I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I wonder how long I can stay this happy though, because a strange change is occurring in Tartarus at the moment. It seems like the shadows are getting stronger; that they´re waiting for something. I shrug my shoulders. I can´t let that ruin my moment with senpai! It´s harder to stay relaxed when you know about the dark hour though.

"How is your training going?" I ask him to get my mind out of the hidden hour.

"Good since that Shiranaka quit." He answers bluntly.

My eyes widen a little at this because I notice the distaste in his voice. Akihiko is a person who openly shows if he dislikes a person but not the kind to tell the world about it. This Shiranaka must have done something to get to him because some rumors say that Akihiko punched him out of the blue. Sure, rumors are just rumors… but not all the time.

"He was a jerk." Is Akihiko´s explanation.

"What did he do to enrage you like that? I heard that you punched him…outside the ring." I ask him carefully.

Akihiko glances at me with a serious expression before he averts his eyes. A strange feeling tells me I should know more about this Shiranaka but Akihiko doesn´t give me any other information about what happened.

"He just got under my skin." He exhales. "And I used my fists to tell him that."

He leaves it at that and something about the kind of voice he uses makes me unable to ask him for more. It seems that he has been going through a hard time too lately. I nod to myself as I continue to clean. The sound of metal touching a plate makes me happy though because I know he´s eating my pancakes and likes them. I need to cherish this feeling so I won´t let the hardships around me break me down.

"We need to make sure to keep our calm." I tell him. "I believe things are going to get worse from now on."

"Yeah…" He agrees.

A silence surrounds us for a while but I´m not disturbed by it. I dry the bowl and clean the sink carefully. I don´t want Fuuka to get mad at me over a dirty kitchen. I turn around to smile at him brightly and it seems like it surprised him because his face turns slightly red. Was he watching me? I wonder as he averts his gaze quickly. I´m not confident enough to believe that.

"We´ll be able to win if we work together." I tell him. "No mountain is too high to climb!"

A somewhat cocky smile appears on Akihiko´s lips and he nods.

"That sounds like you, leader." The way he utters my nickname makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter their wings like crazy.

I smile nervously. "But let´s talk about some other stuff, I don´t want to ruin the mood. Ehm…"

He smiles at me and it makes my insides melt just like that and I find no words. _I need to find a subject to talk about! What? __Ehm…_ Akihiko seems to understand what I´m trying to do and helps out by taking the initiative.

"Yeah…" He agrees. "I´ll help you finish the dishes and then we can go somewhere before we return to the dorm?"

"Sure!"

We took a long walk, prayed at the shrine in a silence before we headed back to the dorm.

* * *

**Things** are going well at the moment and I´m happier than before. The girls at the dorm noticed and asked me about it but I couldn´t say anything because I´m not certain about Akihiko´s feelings. He has a lot of fans and I´m not the prettiest girl out there… but a gut feeling tells me that he has given me a chance to get closer to him. I believe he acts differently around me because I´m the leader of SEES, because I´m not acting like a fan around him and because I somehow managed to gain his trust. It doesn´t have to mean that he likes me more than a friend, maybe that he just…regards me as someone he can trust and be with without feeling troubled. My cheeks hurt from all my smiling.

Even though everything goes smoothly between us something happened one day, out of the blue. Something that changed everything.

"Senpai, do you have time today?" I ask Akihiko on a Monday after school when I´m certain of that he´s free from clubs and other activities.

The young man looks at me for a moment before he averts his gaze. He looked bothered by my presence. My body tenses and eyes widen at this. Something isn´t right, I tell myself as I continue to look at him while waiting for an answer.

"Ehm… I…" He starts in a very tense manner before he declines. "I can´t today."

His voice and body language tells me he couldn´t come up with an excuse fast enough. My eyes widen even more but I can´t bring myself to ask him about it. I unconsciously take a step backwards to create a distance between us and it proves my theory; it´s only when I give him more space that he dares to look at me. A terrible weight grows heavier on my shoulders and my happiness disappears without a trace.

"Oh, alright." I smile weakly, still waiting for him to explain things to me even though I know he won´t. "I guess I´ll see you at the dorm later then."

"Yeah." He answers shortly with a nod.

"Bye." I tell him in a slightly surprised tone when he passes me by quickly.

My heart grows cold as I watch his back while he slowly disappears down the stairs. It gets hard to breathe and I feel slightly sick in the stomach as I recall his words and facial expressions. He lied to me. Why? If he didn´t …want to hang out he could have told me that. He has declined before but not like this.

I feel like throwing up and then I feel silly for letting something like this affect me. I hold back a sob.

* * *

**Akihiko** started to avoid me and my happiness slipped through my fingers just like that. I tried to talk to him about it several times but he always used the excuse that he couldn´t meet. It hurt me because his eyes told me that he could but didn´t want to meet me. I started to avoid him as well since I couldn´t handle my emotions well enough to act cool about it. Tartarus is something else though; I still need to act as the collected leader all of them know me as. Akihiko is a member of SEES too and it´s my responsibility to look over him.

The thoughts of him made it harder to sleep, to eat and to socialize with my friends. People have noticed the change in me but I continue to act ignorant of their knowledge. I´ve lost some weight, I have dark circles under my eyes, my skin looks a little dyer and I don´t have the energy anymore. All of this is slowly starting to affect my fighting style. I´m desperately trying to find where things went wrong, if I said something to piss him of or anything like that but it only makes me remember my happy moments with him. I´m lying in my bed with the lights turned off, just thinking about him without being able to fall asleep.

I recall the time we ran to the shrine together and he taught me how to do a back hip circle on the horizontal bar. I was nervous because I knew that it wasn´t a good idea since I still wore my school uniform but Akihiko didn´t peek at my junk when I tried. That made him grow as a person in my eyes! He helped me out and showed me how it was done, the memory of it makes my heart ache a little. Someone like Junpei would have looked, I just know that! But Akihiko isn´t a perv like Junpei.

My lips move into a weak smile.

Or like when we met the noisy child at the burger restaurant. I thought they child acted in a very spoiled manner but Akihiko saw it from a different angle. It was a child with a lot of energy. His mature point of view surprised me in a good way. Guys who are mature and likes children is really good. The blush that covered his face when I told him he was charming makes my insides burn. He thinks he´s strange but being different is not a bad thing. I like being different, It attracts me.

We have something in common like…both of us doesn´t have any parents. Maybe that made us more comfortable around each other? That fact created a deeper respect and understanding between us. We have been through the same things: loss of loved people but I still can´t grasp the pain of losing a sibling. Maybe it´s my inability to grasp that pain that pushed him away? No, things changed earlier I think.

He started to act strangely one day when he invited me out to eat ramen. He said my fighting style irritated him. Akihiko said he didn´t want me to fight at all and it either mean that he thinks that I´m unreliable or…that he´s worried. A deep sigh leaves my lips as I yawn. I think that was the first time I noticed a change in him. He turned distant towards me and didn´t talk as openly anymore. His thoughts were all about his younger sister Miki and I couldn´t blame him.

Sadness well up inside of me and I hug my pillow tightly. I wanted to be the one to comfort him but I can´t understand the pain of losing a sister. She was the most important person to him since his parents died when he was so young…I tried to console him but I think I said all the wrong words. He looked over Miki but I was only used to be looked over by my parents.

I turn over to the side so I can look out through the window. The moon is shining beautifully and the light creates a yellow glow on the floor. I don´t have time to let my relationship with Akihiko bother me or slow me down. Red eyes stare at the moon for a long time. It´s soon full moon again and the activity in the tower has grown as usual. I close my eyes while mentally preparing myself for hell tomorrow.

* * *

**Shadows** are everywhere so I tell everyone to stick together and be extra cautious when proceeding in the labyrinth. We try to avoid the shadows as much as we can in our search for the stairs but it doesn´t work that well.

"A shadow!" Mitsuru shouts as she charges.

She´s a woman who thinks offence is the best defense and I agree from time to time. I cover her with a frown on my face and fights off a weaker shadow by myself. We´re on a new floor and none of us recognizes the new kind of shadow that lingers here. I stare at one shadow that looks like a monster taken from one of my nightmares but my sight it slowly getting blurrier. I squint but it doesn´t get any better. The creature attacks me and gives me no chance to wait for my eyes to function so I attack without really seeing anything. A Bufu attack hits me from behind and a painful grunt leaves my lips as I lose my balance and hits the floor. I´m just about to grab my weapon and shield myself when someone calls my name.

"Minako! Wake up dammit!"

Junpei jumps forward to kill a shadow that was close to hit me. My eyesight gets better and I notice that it wasn´t one enemy but four. I stare at him wide-eyed while holding my breath. Junpei glares at me from under his cap as he offers me his hand. I accept it and he pulls me up to my feet. I feel so weak. I feel even sicker when I notice how Akihiko stares at me from the corner of my eye.

"That shadows weakness is fire, use Berith to knock them all down! Do I need to spell it out for ya?" He shouts at me.

I flinch before I act. "Sorry! Berith!" I pull the trigger without hesitation and one of my many loyal persona appears and attacks. The fire hits three of them so I use the same attack again so we can use an all out attack to win the battle. The shadows disappear after the collision and leave me breathing hard. Everyone tries to regain their strength in silence but I can feel how they´re looking at me strangely. It´s Junpei who approaches me about it first.

"Hey, are you really fit to be our leader?" He asks me in a harsh voice, probably harsher than he originally wanted.

My eyes widen as guilt washes over me. I avert my gaze and looks at my shoes. Eyes widen and I open and close my eyes several times: I´m seeing two pairs of feet below me. Dizziness makes me feel like losing my balance and fall down again but I take a deep breath and leans backwards to prevent that. It makes me stare into Junpei´s eyes though. He looks pissed.

"Junpei…" Yukari complains.

I glance at her when she gently touches my shoulder in her own way to give me some sort of comfort. My face gets paler when every member of SEES gathers because I know they´re all judging me. I´ve always been a perfect leader who made no mistakes but I´m different now and I can´t focus when I feel Akihiko´s eyes on me. I can´t focus on an empty stomach or when I´ve not slept enough either.

"No." Junpei looks at me seriously. " I was ok with a girl being the leader since you´re my friend and stronger than me but… pull yourself together, or I´ll seriously take your place."

Ouch. That hurt. I know Junpei always wanted to be the leader and that he was jealous but I feel like shit now and his words doesn´t make it less hurtful. I know I should pull myself together but I had no idea that love could do this to a person. Make you this weak and miserable. I´m letting Jupei down now, just as I let Akihiko down in a way I don´t understand.

"I´m sorry." I look at them while fighting my tears and trembling lips. "Everyone, I´m sorry. A lot has happened and I can´t focus. I think I´m going to be sick."

"Don´t worry about it." Mitsuru smiles gently."You always carry everyone´s problems on your shoulders so take it easy and rest for some days, I can take over."

"Special treatment, huh?" Junpei comments.

"Shut up Junpei." Yukari growls at him.

"Whatever!" Junpei walks off.

Junpei, Shinjiro, Ken, Koromaru and Akihiko walks off and my heart grows colder. Can´t Akihiko just approach me, tell me what´s wrong and then comfort me? Can´t he just let me into his heart again? The said teen glances at me from a distance but I can´t read his expression at all. My expression darkens. I just want to scream, curse and punch something.

"It might not look like it but he cares about you." Yukari tells me gently, referring to Junpei. "He´s worried."

"I know and I´m…sorry. Mitsuru, can you take the lead for a day or two?" I swallow my frustration.

"Yes, of course." She seems a little surprised.

"Thank you." I bow slightly before I ask Fuuka for an escape route.

Thetraining continues without me but no one feels right about it. Junpei is frustrated, Yukari and Fuuka are worried, Ken is affected by everyone else´s feelings and Koromaru whines. Mitsuru tries to keep them all together and her years of experience make them all regain their energy again. They take down shadow after shadow and climb up several stairs but decide to stop when fatigue is closing up on them. Fuuka teleports them back and everyone returns to the dorm.

Mitsuru grabs Akihiko´s shoulder when he is about to pass him buy. He stops and looks at her with a dazzled expression.

"Akihiko…" She murmurs his name.

"What?" He seems kind of wary of her.

"What did you say to Arisato-san?" She asks him bluntly.

His eyes widen for a moment but he´s quick to regain his indifference. Mitsuru knows him well enough to see through it though but that doesn´t stop him from trying to deceive her. He feels like she´s intruding on his private life and it makes him put up a defense even though they´re close friends.

"I…I didn´t say anything." He tells the truth but he feels like he´s lying.

Mitsuru gives him a long stare before she gives up with a sigh.

"Just make it work, ok? Someone will get hurt if this continues. Your defense was down today."

Mitsuru passes him by quickly and leaves Akihiko to his own thoughts. The silver haired young man walks towards the dorm by himself. _I thought my heart was about to burst._ He closes his eyes and remembers how hot flames hit Minako from behind, knocking the air out of her lungs violently. The feelings that entered him when the hurtful fry left her lips makes him even more confused. _I want to protect her so why am I doing the exact opposite?_ Akihiko grit his teeth._ Why is she making me feel so weak and defenseless all the time? Why is she…?_

I´m losing control. Akihiko sighs deeply. A frown makes his expression darkens as he recalls the sad expression she showed him every time he declined her invitations to hang out. He declined until she stopped asking, why he don´t know but he felt like shit when she started to stop greeting him in the hallway even though he asked for it. Maybe I´m scared? He asks himself. Akihiko wanted to distance himself from her because the emotions she triggers within him made him weak and shy. _Is it because she reminds me of Miki? Is that why I´m so worried about her? She makes me do strange things…like, hitting…Shiranaka. _Akihiko _frowns. _

He can´t find an answer yet.

* * *

**I decided** to start training again some days after the incident in Tartarus but things doesn´t go as smoothly as I want them to. My senses are not the same anymore and the feelings of guilt makes my dizziness and feelings for Akihiko affect me more than before. There are things that are more important to me than love and one of those things are my friends and beating the Shadows once and for all. That´s why I try to ignore my feelings and fight once more. I act as the leader I am and guide them towards the stairs. But something goes wrong, terribly wrong when we reach the higher floor.

Red eyes widen as something hits me with full force. I don´t get a chance to protect myself and everything turns black.

* * *

"_**Oh**__ no, you´re separated!" _Fuuka´s voice echoes.

Being separated when moving up a floor is something the party is used to so no one gets as frightened as Fuuka. Akihiko looks at his surroundings and notices Yukari further ahead of him and gives her a quick nod of his head. Yukari seems to be relieved. The thought of being alone scared her more than she wants to admit. Akihiko gets up on his feet and prepares himself for action.

"Can you locate the others?" Akihiko asks Fuuka with a grunt.

"_There´s some kind of disturbance…" _Fuuka sounds hesitant. _"I can see Ken and Shinjiro further ahead."_

"What about the others?" Yukari asks nervously.

"_Something isn´t right.. it´s like I can´t get through to them."_ Fuuka´s voice trembles.

"Keep trying." Akihiko tells her sternly."We´ll proceed and try to find Ken and Shinji but be prepared to make an escape route for us if things get ugly."

"_Yes!"_

Akihiko takes the lead as he and Yukari continues on. There aren´t a lot of shadows on the floor so they´re able to find some usable items on their way . Akihiko knows that a floor without shadows either mean that the floor is empty or that a much stronger shadow lingers in the darkness, a monster that scared the smaller shadows away. Yukari can´t help but worry about her friends when the time passes by. She knows something is wrong and is waiting for Fuuka to inform her of an accident of some sort. Akihiko feels it too, that something is different but he keeps himself calm until his thoughts are proved correct.

"_Oh no!" _Yukari grows cold when Fuuka suddenly gasps.

"What happened Fuuka?" Yukari asks her slowly, she is not sure if she wants to know the answer.

Akihiko stops exploring as he listens to Fuuka. Her trembling voice makes his uneasiness grow tenfold but his pokerface is intact as he waits for an explanation.

"_It´s Minako-chan!"_

Akihiko´s eyes widen as something takes a hold of his heart and squeezes it tightly. He feels like he´s about to suffocate. Fear hits him like a violent hurricane as he starts to imagine what could have happened to the younger girl. A deep and dangerous looking frown grows as he starts running. Yukari gasps as she dashes after her senpai.

"Spit it out, Yamagishi." Akihiko fails to sound indifferent this time. "Where is she? What happened?" He yells as he continues to move deeper into the labyrinth.

The sudden change in Akihiko scares Yukari but she continues on like always. The archer is more afraid of her friend being hurt than Akihiko´s rage.

"_She´s hurt! Hurry, turn right, then left then right again! "_Fuuka shouts desperately with fear. _"…There´s blood everywhere…"_

Yukari cries out in fear as she and Akihiko dashes through the narrow corridors towards the area Fuuka knows Minako is. All he can hear is his rapid heartbeat and the quick rhythm that´s created when his feet hits the ground as he runs. He fears the sound will break his eardrums before he reach Minako.

"_She´s on your right!"_ Fuuka cries. _"Watch up, there´s a –!"_

The sound of rubber gliding over a hard surface echoes when Akihiko turns quickly but his movements stop as he finds what he searched for. Eyes widen in an inhuman way. Their leader is lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood motionlessly with a large shadow towering over her. The monster leans over her like it tries to devour her in one bite.

"MINAKO!" Yukari screams with all her might.

Akihiko can´t move as he takes in the scene before him. He´s frightened in a way he never experienced before and Yukari´s scream make everything turn into a way too realistic horror movie. A shaky breath leaves the boxer´s trembling lips as he regains the ability to breathe. _Move. _Nothing happens. Another breath leaves him as he looks down to realize that his knees are shaking terribly. Eyes widen even more. _ I need to stop shaking…What´s wrong with me?_ Akihiko looks at Minako´s pale face. She looks so sick but peaceful at the same time. _What if she´s already…?_A sharp growl can be heard and the shadow turns to look at the two intruders. Akihiko doesn´t notice because all he can see is his kouhai.

_She´s not supposed to get hurt. Minako is strong and careful, she wouldn´t be knocked down like this. This is not supposed to happen! _Akihiko´s thoughts both scares and confuses him. _Legs, move! _A grunt leaves his lips as he takes one wobbly step forward towards the girl he needs to protect.

"Move for God´s sake!" He screams with everything he got.

And he starts moving.

* * *

**AN: as I said, a lot of drama! I hope you enjoyed it. It doesn´t follow the storyline at all and I added some flavor to the . I mean, sure there are accidents in the tower right? I also hope I keep Akihiko in character. **

**Please review, it will make me work harder on the last chapter! **


	3. Rejection or Confession

**AN: I want to than everyone who reviewed, faved, or read this story. I want to give a reader from Hong Kong a special thanks for mailing me just recently. THANKS! Anyway. this is the final chapter of "pancakes" and I hope you enjoy it.

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**

**Akihiko** feels how his shaky legs move beneath him as he´s speeding towards Minako but he feels like it´s not fast enough. _Move !_He almost fall to the ground due to his still shaking legs. His breath is stuck in his throat as he kneels down besides her and feels how his knees get wet. Wet by her blood. He takes a hold of her shoulders carefully and guides her body close to his. He can´t risk hurting her more by moving her body carelessly. Worried eyes look at her pale face.

"Hey…Minako?" He stutters with dread clear in his voice. _Open your eyes dammit! _

She doesn´t answer and Akihiko grows more panicked. He clutches her body to himself as he glances at the shadow. Yukari is fighting it but she´s struggling and he knows that she won´t make it by herself. He needs to get Minako to safety and make sure Yukari doesn´t have to fight alone. She fires arrow after arrow at the shadow but it doesn´t react nor take any heavy damage, and it seems it doesn´t have any problem handing wind attacks.

"Yukari, heal her. I´ll fight!" Akihiko shouts over his shoulder.

"Yes!" She answers with a tired groan.

The girl fires one last arrow towards the shadow´s head before she sprints towards Minako. Akihiko is quick to lower the girl´s body to the ground carefully before he starts to fight. He wants to punch that shadow to pieces for what it did to her. His trembling body is getting more balanced after each step he takes and he regains his usual composure as he delivers the first punch. He feels like he´s growing stronger by fighting to protect her and Yukari but no matter how strong he is he won´t be able to beat it by himself. Fighting to protect someone makes him stronger, makes him keep fighting even though the odds are against him and makes him stay somewhat composed. A loud cry makes him tense though: it´s Yukari.

"Senpai!" Yukari screams wide-eyed. "Her breathing…. It´s getting weaker!"

Akihiko loses the ability to breathe for a moment and he just stare at the girl in Yukari´s arms helplessly. _What should I do? I can´t risk losing her… not like I lost Miki!_ He has never felt this frightened before and the need to protect what´s precious to him makes it worse. Akihiko turns towards the shadow.

"Fuuka, call for help and prepare an escape route!" He yells with all his might.

"_Yes! Ken and Shinjiro-senpai are close by!"_ Fuuka reports.

Akihiko feels how his energy slowly leaves him as he fights the shadow by himself but he´s repeatedly telling himself not to give in to his fatigue. He´s lucky though because Shinjiro and Ken comes running after a while and they´re quick to get his and Yukari´s back. Ken sits down near Minako and helps with the healing while Shinjiro pulls out his axe and starts to fight. Shinjiro regards Akihiko and finds himself sighing with relief over that the blood on him isn´t his.

"Took you long enough…!" Akihiko complains, he looks frightened.

But that means that Minako has lost a great deal of blood. Shinjiro frowns as he charges because he knows that every second they lose her will make it harder to save their leader.

"Hn, you should be thankful." Shinjiro grunts. "It´s time to do some damage."

"Yeah!"

Ken´s brown eyes widen as he looks at Minako while using his persona to heal her. The blood is scaring him because it reminds him of his dying mother, but the fact that his friend and remodel is lying there makes it worse. He fight back his tears.

"This is bad…"Ken comments as he regards Minako´s wounds. "We need to get her to a hospital."

Yukari gets paler at this and it takes her some time to tell Ken what she just realized.

"We can´t contact a doctor during the… dark hour…" Yukari murmurs with wide, terrified eyes.

* * *

**My **eyes hurt as I open them so I shut them again. I´m surrounded by the brightest white and the light makes my head throb painfully. My whole body is aching, I notice, as I lay there in a place I can´t name. I feel so sick and tired but above all: drained of everything. I try to open my eyes once more and I find myself lying in a hospital bed. _What happened?_

"She´s awake!" A voice echoes in my ears.

_Yukari?_

A small and soft hand takes a hold of mine gently. I turn to look at the girl that´s sitting by my side and her smile takes me by surprise. It seems like she has been sitting there for some time now. It´s full of happiness and worry at the same time. I stare at her in silence because I understand that I´m the reason she´s looking like that but I can´t grasp why. What happened? She looks over her shoulder quickly, she´s smiling.

"Senpai, she´s awake!"

My heart grows cold before it starts beating faster as Akihiko rushes into the room. His eyes are wide and his silver hair is in a mess but his presence makes me nervous still. I avert my gaze as he approaches me and I try to get into a sitting position. A loud grunt of pain leaves my dry lips as pain washes over me. The sound makes both Yukari and Akihiko to reach out for me but Yukari withdraws her hands as she sees Akihiko´s expression. He takes a hold of my shoulders and helps me sit up in a less painful way. I smile weakly up at him as a silent _thank you_ but I can´t bring myself to look him in the eye for a long time.

"Is this…" I start in a hoarse voice. "…the hospital? What happened?"

"You don´t remember?" Yukari asks me in a worried manner.

"No…" I shake my head. "Weren´t we supposed to be fighting shadows? Did I… ?"

"We were separated and we found you unconscious and bleeding. You were attacked by a strong shadow." Akihiko tells me in a slightly cold voice.

I don´t know if he´s angry or of the coldness is a result of his concern for me but it makes me feel worse. My confused feelings make me unable to decide what to believe so I choose not to think about it.

"I remember being hit from behind and then…everything turned black." I murmur quietly, trying to remember makes my head throb even more.

"What were you thinking?" Akihiko asks me in an angry voice. "You´ve been too careless lately, you could have died!"

I glare at him angrily. I don´t need this now. Arguing with him makes it worse. Can´t he just stay silent and don´t care like he did before?

"I couldn´t prevent the separation and something hit me when I opened my eyes. I didn´t have a chance to protect myself. I couldn´t do anything. I´m sorry." My anger turns to sadness.

Akihiko looks surprised but his expression turns into guilt. He didn´t mean to yell like that.

"Don´t be too harsh with her senpai!" Yukari looks worried. "We´re happy you finally woke up. You scared all of us!"

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"About three days." Akihiko answers bitterly.

"Oh…" I swallow my saliva. "I´m sorry I made you worry and don´t blame yourself. I got hurt because of my own stupidity. Can you bring the doctor? "

* * *

**A **lot of people stare at me as I walk down the corridors in school. I can´t blame them. I´m covered in plastics and bandages from top to toe and I have this large bruise in my face. Rumors about how I was attacked during a walk are quickly spreading among the students. Popularity has never been something that bothered me but it´s getting troublesome when rumors of me being beaten by an unknown boyfriend travels from mouth to mouth.

"Minako… how are you?" Junpei asks me as I enter the classroom.

"I´m fine." I smile at him.

I sit down and put away my bag. Everyone in the classroom seems to think that I´m very interesting today because they stare with no shame at all. Junpei seems to notice this to and tries to joke about it but I can´t hear him. My focus is on a girl that´s approaching me with a friendly smile on her lips. I´ve been working with her on a project for some time and my absence from school must have affected it.

"Minako-chan! What happened to your face!" She asks me. "Don´t tell me your boyfriend did it?"

The girl glances at Junpei carefully but it´s not in a bad way. She´s a nice girl and worried about me and the rumors about me and Junpei has been going around for a while now.

"No! actually… I forgot to tie my shoes the other day and fell down some stairs. It has nothing to do with a boyfriend, and… I´m single by the way."

"Oh man, I never thought you were than clumpsy!" She sighs.

"No boyfriend?" A guy chuckles. "If you chose me I can protect you!"

"Thanks but not thanks."

And class starts with no more drama.

* * *

**I feel **really tired when lunch finally arrives. I´ll be able to escape the classrooms where more rumors about me are created to flee into the hallway. I´m not so hungry but I decide to eat the onigiri Fuuka made for me. She has, with the help of Shinjiro, succeeded in making progress with her cooking and I´m as always one of her "test persons" to try it out. She told me she made it especially for me and that it would make me heal up faster. A smile grows on my face. I´m happy that my friends care for me.

"H-hey Minako!"

I tense as someone calls my name loudly and I turn around to face the source of sound. Akihiko comes running after me and that sight makes all the color in my face fade away even though it usually would make me shine like a sun. My heart beats faster as I mask my feelings and greets him politely with a little nod.

"Senpai." I greet him, more formal than I used to. I can´t act relaxed around him any more.

He stops next to me and seems surprised over the sudden change of greeting but doesn´t comment on it. The boxer´s facial expression turns into a slightly pained one for a moment and it´s my turn to be surprised. I feel terrible when my own self-defense mechanism hurts him but I can´t do anything about it.

"I need to talk with you. Do you have time?" He finally asks me.

"Now?" I avert my gaze nervously, I wanted to have some peace to eat my lunch…

Something in the air makes me feel that the big confrontation is near. Akihiko wants to talk with me about how he acted, I presume, and it scares me in a way. I´m afraid of what he´ll tell me. Maybe that he found out about my feelings for him and felt disturbed…I start picturing the worse outcome. Akihiko regards me and the fact that he indeed wanted to talk now is clear but he changes his mind after seeing my condition. My bruises are getting worse.

"No,… after school. Meet me at the rooftop?" He asks as he averts his gaze from my broken body.

"Okay." I give in and nod.

"Thank you." My red eyes widen as he sighs with relief.

Akihiko smiles in a gentle yet sad way as he waves at me before turning around and walking back towards where he came from. He´s not a bad person and he doesn´t want to hurt me so the pain I´ve been feeling is probably nothing he wanted me to go through. My knuckles get drained of their color when I clutch my bentou to my chest. My appetite is gone.

The school day disappears like that and it´s time to go to the roof to talk things out. My steps grow heavier as I climb the stairs towards the appointed meeting point. My whole body grows hotter as I notice Akihiko standing near the great fences with the orange glow surrounding him from all directions. It makes his eyes glow with warmth and his cloths moves with the slightly cold breeze. _I love him. So much. _The words flow inside of my mind as I watch him in silence. _Is this the end? Will he reject …me? _The trance that I´m in is broken when the door behind me shuts with a loud bang. The noise alarms both Akihiko and me and we end up looking at each other. His alarmed expression turns into a weak smile.

"No one is here, that´s a pity.. .the wind is so nice..." He comments as he returns to look at the view.

I approach him slowly and let myself look at the scenery. It´s beautiful. It makes me relax a bit.

"Do you come here often?" I ask because I´ve never seen him here.

"No, just recently… I used to meet Shinji here when he skipped classes." He explains. "You can see the dorm from here…"

A long silence spread between us and I decide to get to the point and get this over with. I take a deep breath. "What did you want to talk to me about?" It leaves me like I spat out the words.

He glances at me over his shoulder before he looks into the distance again.

"You remember what I told you about my sister right?" he starts before turning to face me. "I´m tired of losing things that are important to me…I thought it would be better to not let things get too important to me but I don´t think like that anymore. "

My mind starts racing at this, trying to grasp what he´s trying to tell me. I understand the words but I´ve no clue about why he´s telling me this and his intense stare makes me feel that it all should be clear to me. The beat of my heart quickens and it gets harder to breathe as he keeps on staring. My eyes are glued to his lips as I try to understand it all. Akihiko keeps talking about what he has realized in a calm manner. His voice vibrates nicely in my ears.

"If I want to avoid that feeling I have to work to protect what´s precious to me… and that means everything precious…including you.."

_What´s this? _My heart skips a beat and my eyes widen. _He means I´m…precious to him? _I don´t dare to believe it, but if I were, it would explain why he acted the way he did. He didn´t want us to be close because he didn´t want to experience the pain of losing me . _Losing me? Like…the accident? _I suddenly remember the condition I´m in. Did my near death experience make him realize that he wanted to protect me instead of reject me? I´m so lost in my own thought so I don´t realize that Akihiko glares at me at first but I think my theory is all wrong when I do. He´s angry with me and it makes me all confused again. This is not healthy.

"Are you mad?" I ask him while holding my breath.

Akihiko´s glare vanishes and he reels back with a blush growing on his cheeks. His reaction makes my already wide eyes widen even more.

"Huh?" N-no of course not!" He stutters.

Then, what´s making him act this way? Why did he avoid me for all this time? Akihiko bites his under lip as he looks away before he coughs in an embarrassed manner. He seems to be nervous. _Nervous for what? Me? _ The sound of my beating heart gets louder and it gets harder to hear what´s happening around me. My eyes get narrow as I squint while concentrating on what Akihiko tries to tell me.

"So…it´s really strange… I really liked hanging out together, I used to anyways.. " He tells me this slowly, sounding almost sad.

"You… Used to? But…what about now?" I breathe out. I´m ice-cold and burning hot at the same time.

"But now…I feel all tense and on edge… it´s the weirdest thing.." He continues like he, himself, doesn´t understand it.

He glances at me nervously.

"When I found you in Tartarus that day I thought I lost you." He tells me and it proves a part of my theory. "I was worried, angry and…you always make me feel like that. I can´t relax around you! And now you´re covered in bruises…" He blurts out looking at me in a pained way."I could have… prevented that!"

What he´s telling me makes me think of two things; he either loves me or hates me. I decide to be egoistic for once and believe that he likes me. I cling onto hope and waits for the rejection.

"It´s love." I take the chance and blurt it out.

Red eyes stare at Akihiko, waiting for his reaction. His face gets as red as a tomato.

"L-l-love? This is love? …Oh!..." He stutters like crasy.

I can´t do anything but stare at him, waiting for a response of any kind. I won´t leave this roof until he either confesses or reject me.

"It already slipped out, but I like to hear what you feel… will you be my girl?"

A gasp emerges from my lips. My body grows extremely hot and all the tenseness, coldness, fear and confusion fade away just like that. It´s my turn to blush, but the additional red color seems to make Akihiko more worried about my condition than my feelings. I´m already purple! _I need to answer him. _I tell myself as I swallow my saliva. _But how? I´m so happy!_

"YES!" I shout without a warning.

My own yell surprises me so I put my hand in front of my mouth in case I would blurt something else out as well. It seems like I can´t control myself now when I know all my fears were for nothing; that avoiding me was Akihiko´s way of finding out about his own emotions. I feel silly to have doubted him, that I almost started to dislike him. All those dark feelings fade as a bright smile grows on the said man´s lips. His eyes are shining when he looks at me and that innocent blush on his cheeks makes my knees go weak.

"Really!"

He hugs me tightly all of a sudden and I feel like my heart is about to explode. His strong arms around me make me feel loved and above all: protected. It feels good to be so close to him and I almost die in shame as I realize that I want to be even closer to him. My cheeks burn as I lean onto him shyly and return the hug. _I´m in heaven…_ I close my eyes so I´ll only be able to feel him. The scent of fresh air covers him like cologne but I believe it´s no perfume but his own scent. Akihiko´s scent. I could have stayed in his arms forever but the young man realizes his quite impulsive act and let go of me to apologize. I feel cold all of a sudden.

"Oh sorry…Um…I didn´t hurt you, did I? Your bruises… "He looks at my shyly.

"Oh…" I look down at my purple arms. "I didn´t even notice the pain."

Akihiko smiles. "Here´s hoping for the best, right?"

Just as if all of my tenseness let go of my body I start to chuckle at his so adorable behavior. I can´t help it; I´m so happy and I just want to run around and scream that I´m Akihiko´s girlfriend. That would be bad because if someone happened to hear i would be dead…his fans show no mercy! The blush on Akihiko´s cheeks intensifies at my laughter but I´m quick to explain why I´m laughing at him.

"Hey, don´t be that awkward…you´ll make me feel bad!" I smile up at him as I give him a playful nudge. "Let´s… go back to the dorm, kay?"

I didn´t know that I would go from being almost hateful towards him to his girlfriend in the shirt time of a day. Love can turn you into a monster if you let it.

* * *

**Epiloge**

**Akihiko **and I have been dating for about two months now and everything goes well between us. The tenseness is gone, except for Akihiko´s shyness, and we have grown to like even more about the other.

I´m supposed to meet Akihiko after school to hang out and I´m really looking forward to it. My red eyes glow with happiness as I re-read the text message he sent me this morning, telling me to meet him at the usual place because he wanted to see me. Yukari grins at me from her desk because she happened to read the text before I got the chance to. Everyone at the dorm noticed our relationship quite quickly so we didn´t have to inform them of it; it all came naturally. My smile fades when I feel Aigis eyes on me. I can´t help feel bad about her because she likes me to an extent I don´t understand and now I have a boyfriend. It´s not like she loves me like that, but still… The bell rings and I´m one of the first in my class to leave my seat.

"Oh Minako-tan, meeting senpai after this?" Junpei comments my behavior.

"Yeah." I smile at Junpei. "But we´re still going to Tartarus tonight."

His smile fades a bit and I laugh before grabbing my bag and leaving my classmates behind. It´s a beautiful day; perfect for a date outdoors but what I didn´t know was that Akihiko wanted something else. I find him waiting outside his classroom and a smile immediately grows on my lips. The girls surrounding him glares at me but I don´t give a shit because he´s mine now. _Oh, it felt so good to think that way!_

"Senpai!" I shout as I wave my hand cheerfully.

"Hi." He greets me with one of his dazzling smiles. "How are you?"

"Better. I think Fuuka´s food made me recover faster!"

My condition has improved a lot after two months of taking it easy and I´ve just started to lead the group on our Tartarus missions again. I know Akihiko is worried about me because he tends to _accidentally_ knocking out the shadow I want to deal with. It´s cute and I like feeling that loved but it´s also time that he realized I´m better and can take care of myself again. I think he still feels guilty over what happened to me two months ago.

"Oh really." He can´t stop smiling but he turns a little hesitant as he continues to speak. "Ehm if you´d like…do you want to come to my room today?"

That took me by surprise. I look at him in silence for a while and my surprise makes me unable to hear how his fan girls scream with dread. Being invited to a guy´s room is a great deal.

"Ehm… sure. Why not?" I smile gently. "Do you want me to make you pancakes again? We could use it as snacks and see a movie or something…"

"Eh? Oh… yeah." He seems surprised over my sudden offer. "That would be nice. "

The two of us stopped at the supermarket to by the ingredients for the pancakes before we walked home to the dorm. We chatted about everything and nothing, laughing and being serious. We can talk about almost everything and it makes the relationship easier. It also made me realize how hard it would have been if I fell in love with someone he doesn´t have a persona ability. I´m lucky that Akihiko felt the same about me.

We find Fuuka and Shinjiro in the kitchen when we reach the dorm so I ask them if I could use it after them. They agreed so I let them be. I got a feeling that the shy and gentle Fuuka would be a nice fit for Shinjiro, why I don´t know. They make up for the other´s weaknesses…I shake my head and focuses on Akihiko once again. He´s leading me to the second floor and his room. I start to feel slightly nervous about being with him in there but I pull myself together and smile.

Akihiko´s scent hits me in the face when I enter the room. It is as small as mine but it feels much narrower because of the many things he has gathered in here. His room is full of stuff, like a boxing bag and other work-out gear, a computer, a bed, magazines etc. I get the feeling that Akihiko seldom spends time in his room and that he uses it more like a storage. Not in a bad way of course, he is an outdoor guy. I return to reality when Akihiko starts speaking with me.

"Sorry there´s nowhere to sit except the floor…maybe I´ve a cushion somewhere…" He starts to look around in a stressed manner. "Do you want something to drink?" He adds.

"I´m alright but senpai, calm down okay?" I chuckle gently.

"Don´t laugh at me…" He smiles back at me before he turns serious."My room doesn´t weird you out does it?"

The question don´t take me by surprise because Akihiko has talked about it before. He says that other might find him strange because he´s the only child and because he lost his parents. I´ve never understood why others think that way because being different is a good thing in my eyes.

"No, actually I think it fits you. I imaged you would have a room like this..." I look around. "I like it."

Akihiko looks pleased with my answer but he doesn´t stay happy for long. He sits down on the floor and I join him. He seems nervous but also a little sad. Akihiko is a confident person when fighting and Tartarus are concerned but there are things that bother him. Like what people think of him at times, that he´s different because of his dark past and even love bothered him at first. Akihiko isn´t the confident boxer everyone sees because he also have troubles and problems that weight him down at times. I´ve decided that I should be there for him when it happens.

"Thanks! But… that means it´s me…not the room…that´s strange…this is all new for me…" He mutters almost to himself.

"Even though some might think of you as strange I don´t see that as a bad thing. You are you, and that´s what I like." I tell him honestly but avoid to look at him because I just said some embarrassing stuff. "You never had a girl in your room before?" I ask him in a teasing manner, so I can hide my own nervousness.

"o-o-of course not!" He looks at me wide-eyed.

"Eh? Not even Mitsuru?" I ask him with surprise.

"N-no! I mean… I never thought I would need a girlfriend or anything, but that´s not something you go out and get because you need it…huh?"

A blush threatens to make me turns as red as a tomato. _He makes me feel so special…_ I smile up at him and nod. He is a serious boyfriend, just as Junpei predicted, and I find myself liking it more and more. I feel treasured, protected and loved in a way that might spoil me. The butterflies in my stomach intensifies as he hands me a small bag. _A gift? _

"I wanted to give you this today, will you take it?"

I look at him before I carefully look into the bag and find the rabbit doll he bought for me. My eyes widen and my blush gets worse. He bought me a stuffed animal! It´s so cheesy but I can´t help but smile with happiness. I´ve never gotten a gift like this before, not since my parents died. I hug it softly.

"I love it." I tell him honestly.

"Don´t you think it looks like you? What´s with that face? It looks just like you!"

He laughs as my expression changes. I didn´t know I looked like a rabbit but I decide that it´s a good thing, because they can be kinda cute.

"Hahah, I guess… thanks senpai! I´ll treasure it." I murmur.

"There was a time when I thought that I was just seeing Miki in you but when I bought that I knew that wasn´t the case. Passing by toy stores always made me think of her but your face was the first thing that popped to my mind when I saw the doll… " He tells me in a gentle voice."I always tried to forget what happened…."

I put the rabbit in the bag before I turn to him. _So he thought of Miki when he saw me at first? _That explains a lot. I caused him pain too, just like he hurt me even though both of us didn´t think of it that way.

"You shouldn´t try to forget her…or what happened. " I say gently in an almost careful manner. "You should treasure the memory of her and just… let the pain go away. I think that accepting what happened is a big step to get rid of the pain."

"…But it´s hard…" He murmurs.

"I think I understand but…I´ve never lost a sibling. " I tell him quietly. "The pain is different from losing your parents…probably."

Akihiko glances at me from the corner of his eye. We´ve both lost important people and experienced that special pain that never let you go completely. That pain brings us together just as much as our love for the other does. I flinch as Akihiko touches my shoulder to gain my attention. I turn to him and smiles weakly. I didn´t mean to talk about sad stuff especially when I should be happy because I´m on a date with him. He returns my smile with a sincere one.

"Thank you Minako, if it hadn't been for you I might never have tried to get over it. I would have just continued to pretend that I had…. When I was sad, happy or…confused you were always by my side even though I didn´t see that at first. I want you to know that I´ll be there for you too, when you are going through hard times. Because from now on…we have each other…"

I want to cry. His words are so honest and true and they touch me like never before. We have each other now so if we feel sad we should talk to the other about it. Share the pain, share the happiness and grow as a pair. He´s right and I´ll remember his words when I´ve my doubts. Curly hair frames my face as I nod.

"Yeah, that´s what a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship is about right? I´ll try to remember that. And don´t hesitate to call me when you´re down because… I want to make you happy."

The touch on my shoulder gets firmer as my words reach him. My heart starts beating faster when I notice how close he is and the way he looks at me. There´s only me in his eyes now and here´s no signs of hesitation of confusion in their depths any longer. My body is acting all strange. During the two months that we´ve been dating we´ve not gone further than holding hands and a short hug from time to time. I can´t lie and say I didn´t wish for more. Akihiko seems to be fighting to tell me something important.

"I hope you don´t mind me saying this but… you mean a lot to me…I love you." He confesses boldly.

My expression seems to alert him and his eyes widen as he let go of me and leans back a bit.

"I wonder what kind of person I would be if you didn´t come here… I mean to Port Island.. not this room! Don´t think I´m g-g-gonna lose control or something because I let you in here!"

I chuckle at his behavior but above all to release my own feelings. His confession surprised me a lot and I feel like I need to laugh to release some happiness because I´ll explode otherwise.

"C´mon… don´t laugh!" He tells me with an embarrassed frown but the smile on his lips tells me he enjoys it..

My chuckle dies slowly and I find myself staring at the slightly blushing man in front of me. He is so adorable and I can´t keep my emotions in check. What if I wanted him to lose control for once?_ Or will he reject me …?_ I frown as I approach him, I´m still uncertain. Akihiko blinks twice as he follows me with his gaze but he doesn´t move away as I come closer to him. His eyes watch me intensively and the blush on his cheeks get redder when he notices the small distance between us. A tiny but noticeable gasp leaves his tempting lips as my fingertips touch his cheek. His skin feels so soft and I can´t help myself.

Stupid Akihiko, for being this open and dense! React! Reject me or …do something!

He doesn´t react at all as I put my other hand on his shoulder, leans in even closer and touches his lips with my own. It´s a small touch, soft and gentle and Akihiko can pull away if he wants to but he stays completely motionless. I withdraw slowly with fear growing in my chest and I look him in the eye. Akihiko stares at me with confusion but his blush tells me it´s due to his shyness. I sigh with relief.

"M-minako…" He stutters my name before he swallows his saliva.

"Sorry, I didn´t mean to do that…all of a sudden. Well, I wanted to but you know…." I start talking nonsense. "Sor—"

A pair of lips crashes down on my mouth and interrupts me. Eyes widen when two strong arms encircle me and pulls me flat against his chest. A soft sigh leaves me as I return the show of emotions. Our touches are uncertain and shy but the kiss leaves us both breathless when we part. His arms stay around me and I continue to lean onto him as I regain my breath. Akihiko´s pounding is very loud and I bet mine is too. Akihiko regains his composure first.

"You´re the only one… I can act this way around. would you mind calling me by my first name?" He murmurs into my hair.

"Oh… but Senpai—" My eyes widen when I realize I just addressed him with the politeness he wanted me to drop. "Ehm… Aki..hiko… it feels odd calling you like this." I murmur back quietly.

"It makes me happy." He tells me while giving my body a gentle squeeze. "I´ll be sure to make you happy, too. In time, I hope you can find even more about me …to love…"

I´m about to answer when two loud knocks on the door alerts me. I jump out of the embrace and almost hit my head as I fall down close to his TV. Akihiko flinched too but reacted more collected than I did. I hold my breath as someone from the outside starts opening the door. My body turns ice-cold as someone from enters. I want to disappear when Shinjiro appears in the doorway.

"The kitchen is free Aki—" His eyes widen a fraction when he notices me. "Leader, what are you doing here?"

Akihiko and I flinch once more at this and we look at each other. This makes the other man even more suspicious.

"We were discussing Tartarus." I enter the leader-mode. "But I´m going to make some pancakes now. Be right back"

And I flee.

"Okaaaay." Shinjiro smirks at the still blushing Akihiko before he turns around and leaves.

* * *

**AN; the end of "pancakes"! I hope you enjoyed this short story with pure fluff and drama! Writing this made me want to write a more serious story about Persona, so I´m planning one. If you´re interested please take a look at the poll on my profile. It´s about future stories. I already have two persona one-shots under way but they´re about a different pairing. If you´re interested keep an eye on my updates! **

**Please read and review!**


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